Shadows Of the Past
by MyInnerWeirdo
Summary: No one thought the mirror could cause such harm...But it's things like this that can be the most deadly.
1. Chapter 1

**WOOH! Took A LOT of much required thought I finally got the sequel! YAY!!!! Enjoy the first chapter! Please review. Please! I AM BEGGING YOU!!!**

After years and years of multiple deaths and injuries caused by objects that seem harmless, you'd think you've seen everything. Everything from death by daisies to fatal injury by a blender, very few Tree Friends thought they had seen everything too. Neon, Francis, Flaky, Flippy, and Scarlett thought that after the Demon Flippy incident, nothing else could go wrong, and their lives could go on like it normally did. That had occurred only a few months ago, and everyone was happy that the demon was gone; there were fewer deaths, less injuries, and less head traumas.

Nothing but the death counts changed: Neon was still a half-crazed daredevil, Francis was still an overprotective brother, Flippy was still a war vet with an abnormally high voice (only with no demon), Scarlett was still an annoying sister, and Flaky was still a frightened, breathing pincushion.

So yeah, almost everything was still the same. But how long will this moment of "peace" last before something else goes terribly wrong? Only time will tell....

-------------------

"Neon? Wake up! C'mon, it's passed twelve!" Flaky said, shaking Neon from a deep sleep. The fox yawned, unwillingly opening her eyes.

"What is it...Can't you see I'm sleeping?" She groaned, sitting up. "How did you get into my apartment?"

Flaky blinked at Neon, slightly annoyed. "Um...Neon. This is my house. You fell asleep here. Again. Without my permission."

"But you're always telling me I can stay here whenever I want!"

"That only applied when I _didn't_ know you had a twenty-seven year old brother that's fully capable of being a legal guardian." Flaky said as-a-matter-of-factly. Neon glared at the porcupine, before getting off the couch and stretching.

"Weeelll...I'm up, what did you want?"

It took a little bit for Flaky to remember what she woke Neon up for, and it annoyed the fox greatly, but finally Flaky remembered. "Oh yeah! Are you doing anything Friday night?"  
Neon held her paws up, looking disturbed. "Whoa! Flaky, I don't bend that way, besides you're dating Flippy, remember?"

"I'm not asking you out on a date! Weirdo!"

"Oh, okay. Then I'm not doing anything Friday---whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! What were you planning, Flaky?!" Neon demanded, sneering at Flaky. The porcupine smiled nervously.

"Nothing..." She said, with a nervous laugh.

"Well, as it turns out I do have plans on that day."

Flaky scoffed, crossing her arms. "Like what? Sitting in front of _my_ TV, eating _my _food, and playing _my_ Xbox 360?"

"You know me so well!" Neon laughed jokingly, playfully swatting Flaky's arm. Then the fox skipped into Flaky's kitchen.

Flaky glared in Neon's direction. "Fine then...suit yourself. I guess I'll just have to sell your Silent Hill collection."

Neon stopped skipping and gasped. _It's a bluff! _She immediately thought.

"And I'm not bluffing." Flaky stated, making Neon swear under her breath.

The fox turned around to face Flaky. When she did, she glared at Flaky with a threatening look in her eyes. After a few seconds, Neon grumbled, "Fine...what do you want?"

-----(Five minutes of explaining later)-----

"Alright... so at five o'clock on Friday I have to meet you at the playground and I can't say that there is anything suspicious about all this being set on the tenth of June?"

"Uh-huh," Flaky smiled widely.

"The exact day of my birthday?"

"Yyyyup!"

"Alright, sounds agreeable. I'll do it."

"Okay, Neon, now get the hell out of my house!" She ordered, grabbing Neon by her jacket and throwing her outside. After Flaky had slammed the door, Neon only stood there, staring blankly at nothing. This continued until she decided to go ruin Petunia's slumber party. A few minutes after Neon had left, Flippy showed up, and quickly entered the house.

"So, is she coming?" Flippy asked, smiling.

"Yep, I made sure of it. She'll be so surprised!" Flaky said, excitingly.

While Flippy was also exciting about the upcoming event, he still couldn't help worrying that something bad might happen. "I'm still not sure Flaky..." He said, finally. "You remember the last time you tried doing something like this..."

"Sure I remember. Clear as day. But this is Neon we're talking about; she wouldn't do anything to hurt us."

Flippy sighed, "Okay. I trust you."

"Good! Oh, and one more thing..." Flaky lowered her voice to a whisper, "we absolutely _cannot_ tell Scarlett about this, at least not until the last second. She's not good with secrets..."

"All right, I won't tell her. I just hope nothing happens to spoil this, like last time."

----(Later...)----

Neon skipped joyously down the street, having successfully ruined Petunia's social life. She had never been happier; except for the time she figured out she could kill people just by glaring at them. Continuing her rather out-of-character skipping, Neon couldn't help but wonder what Flaky was planning for her. She knew that she should know what it was, since it was on her birthday.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone giggling. She stopped skipping and looked around. She saw a little bear cub sitting on the dirty ground. He was playing with a toy car, making car noises with his mouth. He noticed her standing there and looked up. "Hewwo, miss. What's your name?"

"Um..." Neon paused, "My name is...Neon. What's yours?" _Why is he talking to a complete stranger?_

"My name is James...I'm only two yea's old!" He said, holding up two fingers. Neon looked down at James, wondering where his mother could be. She scratched at the back of her ear, sighing.

"James, are you all alone out here?"

The cub shook his head. "My mommy's here, too. She's lookin' fo' food."

_Aww, what an adorable little two year old speech impediment._ Neon thought, smiling warmly.

James gave her a quizzical look. "Where's your mommy?" Neon flinched at the question. She twiddled her thumbs, unable to think of a proper answer for a child.

"Um...My mommy...she's...uh..."

As Neon mumbled, James's mother came out of an alley. "James, honey, it's time for us to...who are you?" She asked Neon.

Neon looked up at her. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry...it's just that I saw this two year old here by himself, and God knows I can't leave a child until someone comes to supervise them."

"Oh, well, thank you. That's very kind."

"Uh-huh...well, I gotta go. See ya!" Neon said, in a hurry to leave. She dashed passed the mother and James before they had a chance to say anything else to her. She stopped running when it felt like her lungs were burning. With her paws on her knees, Neon gasped for breath. She felt good because she was able to dodge a hard question, but she felt bad because she was reminded of that fact that her mother was dead because of her.

"Okay!" Neon stood up straight. "Gotta think positive! I'm turning fifteen in three days and Flaky's got a little surprise for me! What the hell is that surprise anyways?"

Luckily, Neon was especially good at blocking things out...

**Next Chapter Coming Soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy it! Woohoo! (I also put a Christmas song spoof I learned about a year or so ago. I triple dog dare you to guess the real song) **

Chapter two:

"Ugh...What are we doing down here, Giggles?" Cuddles groaned, following Giggles into Neon's apartment.

"We're looking for idea's on what to get Neon for her birthday." She replied.

"But _whyyyyyyy?_" He once again groaned. "Neon's house is so booooorrrrriinnng!"

Giggles scoffed. "Cuddles, to you, anything without a skateboard involved is boring."

"Not true! Oh wait. Yes that is true..." Cuddles' ears drooped in boredom and he immediately sat down on the couch. He grumbled and slouched. "I don't see why we have to look around for a gift, I bet you anything she doesn't even like surprises!"

"Oh come on Cuddles, every girl likes surprises."

"She isn't like most girls though! She doesn't do half the things a normal girl should do."

And so Giggles and Cuddles began bickering about how Neon isn't like other girls (it's true, she really isn't). It wasn't long before they started shouting, and could be heard from almost a mile away. Suddenly, the door was kicked off of its hinges, and on the other side stood a one eyed dark brown cat. "What the hell is going on here?!" He shouted, making the couple freeze up. "Who are you two and what are you doing in Francis's house?!"

Cuddles looked at Giggles, and spoke up. "Um...we're here...be-because we're looking for a birthday present for Francis's kid sister...do you know her?"

The cat crossed his arms, nodding his head. "Yeah, I was one of the very few people who actually cared for her when she was growing up." He snorted. "My name's Murray. Sorry for the scare, it's just that, sometimes I can be the over protective one when it comes to Neon."

"Creepy..." Giggles muttered. She made her way into another room, mostly to get away from Murray, when she saw something of interest. Propped up against a wall, with a large cloth draped over it, was a large mirror. Unable to resist the temptation, Giggles quickly grabbed the cloth and pulled it off. She only saw her own reflection. "Isn't this the mirror Neon used to..." She trailed off, gazing deeper into the mirror. Slowly, another image appeared in the mirror, an image of a person Giggles hadn't seen in a long while. Her eyes widened. "Oh...my God..."

"Giggles, there's nothing here! Lets go!" Cuddles said, entering the room. He grabbed her paw. "Come on, we're wasting time here. Let's go ask her brother what she might want."

Giggles, although reluctantly, followed Cuddles out of the room. She couldn't take her eyes off the mirror until she was fully out of the apartment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Laying on a dirty, springy, uncomfortable bed, Neon tried to sleep, but could not. The sound of her brother an their "father" fighting was keeping her awake. She could hear furniture breaking, glass shattering, and angered screams. The poor fox couldn't help but feel that this was all her fault, and yet there was nothing she could do to stop it due to how young and feeble she was._

_Neon grabbed a pillow and firmly pressed it over her ears, wanting this to be over. After an hour, which seemed like an eternity to her, she heard her bedroom door open and a moment later she was hoisted up off of her bed and into a loving embrace by her brother. She returned the hug, tears stinging her eyes._

_"When is everything going to be better?" She asked, quietly. Francis gently stroked the dark green tuft on her head._

_"Soon, Neon..." He replied, "We get a few hours of peace...he passed out on the floor."_

_Even with the reassurance, Neon couldn't help the tears from spilling over. She sobbed into her brothers shoulder as he tried to calm her. It was a futile attempt. Given the circumstances, both foxes knew moments like this would be a daily part of their lives for a long time._

Snapping her eyes open, Neon awoke from her dream. Sorrow and fear had built up in her chest, and she felt her face. Fresh tears soaked her cheeks, and she was trembling. Neon sat up, realizing where she was. She was at the park, under a shady tree. She leaned against the tree and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Damn it...not again." She muttered, trying to erase any evidence that she had been crying before anyone notices.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Too late.

Neon looked up, seeing Scarlett standing over her. "What do you want?" She sneered. "I'm not in the mood for any annoyance today."

"Awww, but annoying you is my favorite thing to do!" Scarlett joked. She sat down next to Neon, making her growl. "So, is there anything you need me to do...to, you know, make you happy?"  
"Is "go away" an option?" Neon asked, coldly, growling deeper. Scarlett frowned.

"Why do you have to be so mean all the time?"

"For your information, Scarlett, I'm _not_ always like this. I get this way whenever I'm reminded of...My God, just--... just leave me alone!" Neon shouted, her voice breaking in mid-sentence.

"Okay...God, you don't have to be such a..." Scarlett broke off there, not wanting to make the fox angrier than she already was. "I'm going home, you can just stay here and sulk."

"Fine, I will." Neon leaned against the tree trunk, crossing her arms and snarling at Scarlett. Without looking back, Scarlett stomped home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dashing through the snow, on a pair of broken skis, down the hills we go, crashing into trees! The snow is turning red, and I think I might be dead, all I want for Christmas is a hospital and bed! Wooh!"

Toothy danced down the sidewalk, singing the spoof of a Christmas song, knowing very well that it was June. He stopped singing when he saw Giggles, franticly screaming at him. "Toothy! Toothy! Come quick! Hurry!"

"What's wrong! Did something happen?!" He shouted back, panicking.

"Just hurry up and follow me! There's something I need to show you, something important!" Then, Giggles took off running. Toothy sighed.

"Dear lord, what could it be this time?"

**Hopefully, I can get the next chapter typed and posted shortly. But I'm not promising anything. See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Before anything could be said, Toothy found himself right in the middle of Neon's apartment. One glance around the room told him that _his_ room was clean compared to this. Clothes scattered everywhere, old pizza boxes with old pizza still in them, and one object that he wasn't exactly sure of himself. "Jesus, what does she do around here?"

"That doesn't matter right now, just come in here!" Giggles told him. He followed her into the room. In this room, he saw many more vile things. He cringed.

"Must be her brother's room..."

"Over here!" Giggles called. "Come on, hurry! We don't have much time,"

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." Toothy found Giggles standing in front of an inanimate object. Peering over her shoulder, he saw his reflection and hers. He raised an eyebrow. "Uh, wow. A mirror. Terrific. Can I leave now?"

"No! I swear I saw my grandpa in that very same mirror! I thought I did..."

Toothy continued staring at the mirror. Standing there for what seemed like forever, he tried seeing what Giggles had seen. But there was nothing but their own reflections. He turned his head to her. "Are you sure you weren't seeing things? Have you been getting much sleep lately?"

Giggles stood there, dumbfounded. Her mouth hung open, "B-but! I-I swear! Just look in the mirror!"

Groaning, Toothy just walked away, leaving the confused chipmunk to stare into space until someone came to yell at her for being in someone's apartment without their permission, although it was already granted.

------------------------

When Scarlett got home, she instantly flopped down onto the couch. "Damn her...I try to be nice and what does she do? She freaks out! Ugh, she's so immature."

Scarlett stared down at the floor, anger spelled out on her face.

"I was only trying to help..."

Just then, Scarlett heard the door swing open and slam against the wall. She looked up; expecting to see a tearing green angered vixen at the door, but it was a dripping topaz neutral fox. "Hello Scarlett." He said.

"What the heck happened to _you_?" She asked.

"It started storming all of a sudden!" Francis exclaimed. "I hope Neon gets home soon..."

Scarlett swung her feet over the sofa and stood up, "Well, what are you doing here?"

Francis rung his drippy tail out, making the floor wet and slippery, and replied, "She normally comes here before going home."

Laughing nervously, Scarlett scratched the back of her head. "Um...hehe...I really,_ really_ don't think she'll be coming home tonight. I kind of caught her in a bad mood and I think I...somehow...made her mood worse..."

Francis threw his paws up, angry. "Great! Now she'll get killed in some whacky way, come back to life, and then get killed again! For once I wish she could go through one day without dieing." He turned his back to Scarlett, unable to calm down from the outrage.

Once again, the door suddenly swung open and hit the wall, making a loud "boom" echo throughout the house. In came Flaky and Flippy, both soaked to the bone.

"Jesus, one minute it was a beautiful sunny day and the next it's pouring down rain." Flippy exclaimed, "I've seen plenty of strange things in this town but this is the strangest...besides that mirror Neon pulled me out of."

"I'll go get some towels..." Flaky muttered, and headed towards the laundry room. "Oh, hey Francis," She acknowledged the fox as she passed him, "Your sister's already at home. She said something about not wanting to leave for the next few weeks."

"Aw, shit. She's depressed again..." Francis sighed. "Well, I'll try to see if I can cheer her up. She's not the little girl she used to be, though, so it could take a while..."

And with that, Francis slipped out the door and into the pouring rain. When Flaky walked back into the room, with two towels in her arms, she immediately turned to Scarlett.

"_You_ wouldn't have to with Neon's poor mood, would you, Scarlett?"

"No...Kind of...Yes." Scarlett replied, sighing remorsefully. "But it wasn't my fault, I was trying to be nice to her and she freaked out!"

Flaky handed a towel to Flippy. "Okay, Scarlett, for one thing: never approach Neon when you see that she's in a bad mood. Another thing: you're stupid for approaching her anyways since she is greatly annoyed by you."

Scarlett scowled at Flaky, grunted, and left the room. Flippy had just finished trying off his hair and said, "Is she normally like that?"

"Only when she's the one to blame for something." Flaky replied.

--------------------------------------

Murray leaned against the filthy apartment walls, dragging on a cigarette. His tail swished along the ground, causing small amounts of dust to kick up. He saw shadows cast upon the walls; many belonged to cutthroat thugs who would kill their own mother for money. He shook his head disapprovingly,

"It's any wonder those two can stand living here...I thought Neon had run away to get away from things like this."

Just then, said fox rounded the corner with a sad look upon her face.

"Oh, speak of the devil! Hey, Neon, what's up?"

"Piss off." She sneered, entering her apartment and slamming the door behind her. Murray looked on in confusion, but then shrugged it off and continued with what he was doing.

"Poor girl must've had a rough day."

When inside her own place of isolation, Neon broke down into tears. Quietly sobbing, Neon propped herself up on the bedpost. She wanted the nightmares to end; she wanted the memories to fade away forever. But she knew that the world didn't work that way, even in this town, and that these things would be with her for most of her life. Neon didn't try to stop herself from crying, she just wanted to cry and be done with that moment of her life.

After a while, Neon got up, feeling better slightly. She walked into her brother's room, where the mirror was being held. Upon entering the room, Neon found that the cloth covering it had been removed and was on the floor. "Who the hell...?" Neon trailed off, looking into the mirror. She had a strange feeling while looking at the mirror. It was like someone was looking back at her, other than her reflection. Looking closer into the mirror, Neon tried to find the source of the odd feeling.

Just then, someone new appeared in the mirror, and he had topaz fur, like her brother. And it looked an awful lot like him too. He was standing behind her. Neon glanced over her shoulder, but saw no one there. She looked back at the mirror, once again seeing her brother's reflection.

"Francis?" She asked. The reflection shook his head. Neon gasped. "N-no! I-i-it's y-you! W-what the hell are you--?"

She saw an evil smile stretch across the topaz animal's face. Neon felt as though she was about to faint, looking at the topaz animal as if he were the Grim Reaper...and she was his next victim. Neon shook her head in denial; she refused to believe it was _him_ that was standing there in the mirror. She saw him wave casually at her, and Neon shut her eyes tightly. "I...I must be seeing things...it's a magic mirror, I know that...but..."

"Neon?" A voice interrupted hers. Neon glanced back at the mirror, seeing that her reflection now stood alone. "Neon, are you in here?"

"Francis!" Neon called back, delighted to know that it was her brother. "I've never been happier to see you!" With a leap, Neon grasped her brother in a warm embrace.

Surprised by his sister's actions, Francis had to ask, "Did something happen?"

"Yeah...I thought I saw a ghost...But I'm sure it was only my imagination." Neon mumbled, sounding frightened slightly.

"Really? Who'd you see...?"

He felt Neon tense, and then she hugged him tighter. "I...uh...I saw Dad..."

Francis looked down at her, worriedly, and gently patted her head. "Thank God you were just seeing things. You know he's dead...right?"

"Yeah..." Neon sighed. She still wasn't so sure.

"Maybe you need more sleep?" Francis suggested. Neon scoffed.

"Sure, Francis. I slept through half the day and spent the rest of the day napping under a tree. Do you really think I need _more _sleep?"

"It could help."

Neon sighed, "Fine," With that she let go of her brother and jumped onto her bed, which, conveniently, was only three feet away. "You know that it's gonna be hard for me to get to sleep, right? 'Cause I basically slept through the entire day!"

"Try." Francis cooed, ruffling her hair. When he left her bedside, Neon straightened the loose strands of hair back into place. Francis trotted up to a nearby table and placed a tape into a tape player. When he hit "play", a soothing sound came from the speakers. It was so beautiful, and Neon didn't even know what it was, but it was making her incredibly sleepy. Soon, her eyelids slid shut and she slipped into a deep sleep.

----------------

Neon awoke inside of an old abandoned house, lying on the dirty floor. Sitting up, Neon looked around. "How the hell...?" She stood up quickly and began calling out names. "Francis...? Scarlett..? Flaky? Anyone!? Who brought me here!?"

"Hewwo, Neon."

Neon slowly turned around, a bit startled by how young the voice sounded. Sitting on a set of stairs was James, drawing with a red crayon. Although he said her name, he wasn't looking up at her. "James? What the heck are you doing in a place like this!? Don't you know it could be dangerous?"

"No...it's not dangerous...I wive here."

"Wha...did you just say you _live _here?!" Neon was astounded. "Where's your mom?"

"She's somew'ere." James finally looked up at Neon. He stood up, gathering up his drawing and the crayons. "Sowwy, but I need to go." James turned and dashed into a dark hallway. Neon stood there, deep within her thoughts, before realizing that she needed to go after him.

"Whoa! J-James! Wait, don't go in there!"

**I told you I wasn't promising any quick updates.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Neon had lost track of James, and now he was somewhere in this horrific place. An ominous red glow emitted from the other end of the everlasting hallway. Curious, Neon followed the glow, wanting to see what the cause of it was. Clanking, scraping, and clattering echoed around her, and Neon was forced to hold her fragile ears. "Damn…where's that noise coming from?"

It sounded like gears inside of the walls. _What kind of place is this…?_ Neon couldn't seem to figure out where exactly she was and where cause of the noises were, only that they were giving her a horrible headache. Suddenly, a voice breaking through the clanking and clattering drowned the noise out and made her forget about her headache.

_"He's here…he's back…to claim that which he has lost."_

"Hello? James?" Neon called out. "Is that you…?"

The voice continued chanting, as if not hearing Neon's own voice. _"He's in your darkest nightmares, and his power is overwhelming…"_

"James! Are you in there!?" Neon suddenly felt a fiery wind hit her, pushing her back and burning the fur on her face. Luckily, it was only singed. Neon broke into a run, trying to break through the blazing wind. It was painful, but she managed to get through it alive. Soot covering her from head to toe, Neon found herself in a large empty room. She didn't see James, but she could still hear that sing-song voice

_"Your spirit is broken, your heart reduced to ashes. The madness, the sadness, the torture. Life lived by fear and anger. He's back to take his children."_

"Who the fuck is saying that!?" Neon shouted angrily. Suddenly, she realized something. "Where is this…It can't be!"

"Oh…but it is…sweetheart…"

Neon spun around, seeing her father standing in the doorway. In his paw he held a blood-stained knife. The very same one that…Neon shook her head in disbelief, unable to believe what she was seeing. He was supposed to be dead! "What the hell are you doing here!? And where's James?!"

"James…?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Neon snarled.

"The little boy who "lives" here, you dickhead!"

"Hey, language young lady." He warned, shaking his finger at her. "I don't know who you're talking about. No little boy lives here. I've been here in total solitude for almost eight years now."

"Bullshit!" Neon roared, baring her teeth at him in a low growl. "I know you know him…and you'd better tell me where he is!"

"Tsk, tsk. Honey, you'd better shape up, you're really making me angry with that bad attitude of yours." Her father moved out of the doorway and was right in front of her in a flash. Wrapping his fingers around her neck, he lifted Neon up until her head almost hit the ceiling.

"Ack!" She coughed. She kicked and clawed at him, but he wouldn't let go. He tightened his fist around her neck.

"You've been in a situation like this before, haven't you sweetie? You should know how to get out of it. Come on now, attack me!"

"I hate you!!" She roared, feeling an adrenaline rush. With a fierce swipe of her claws, Neon managed to severely injure her father's face, enough for him to let her go. After hitting the ground, Neon bolted into the hallway without looking back. When she was isolated in the dark, she felt something grab her foot and trip her. Almost immediately, Neon placed her paws out in front of her to catch herself from the fall, but something sharp had pierced trough her left paw. "Shit!"

"I gottcha now, bitch!" She heard him roar, and then felt his cold paw on her back. "Now I've got you where I want you, now die!" Suddenly, the sound of sirens distracted Neon from the pain in her paw and her father. The sirens were loud, piercing through the thick metal walls of the warehouse. "What's that noise…? Francis!!!"

Neon gasped. What does Francis have to do with the current situation? Still pinned to the ground, Neon listened closer as the sirens died down, and a sudden jolt passed through her body, starting from her chest. After a few seconds, another jolt came, and the image of the warehouse was replaced by a bright light. And soon enough, Neon found herself in a hospital bed.

"Holy shit, what just happened?!" Neon breathed. "How did I get here? What the hell is going on!?" Having been attached to life-support, there wasn't much Neon could do in her current state. So all she had to do for now was wait until the nurse came in and told her what had happened to her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

"Neon's in the hospital?" Flaky asked, worried. "Why?"

Francis shrugged. "Well…It was two o'clock in the afternoon…and she still hadn't woken up. I found that strange, even for her. And then something happened to her paw too…I don't know what but it suddenly just started bleeding!"

"That can't be good." Flaky said, worried. "That kind of thing never happened before…even in this forest. Something's wrong. Terribly wrong. We're going to have to find a doctor or something…"

"Good idea! I'll call Lumpy!"

"**_NO_**!" The loudness of Flaky's voice almost caused Francis's ears to bleed. He could only stare at Flaky in silence, and she laughed nervously in response. "Trust me…he'll only make the situation worse…"

Francis shrugged. "Then who?"

"Maybe I could help!" Snorted a blue anteater, standing in the middle of Flaky's doorway.

"Why does everyone come into my house without permission?" Flaky thought aloud.

"No idea," Francis replied, "But Sniffles, why are you helping Neon? You barely know her, let alone like her!"

"Well, her reputation has caused me to shun her on several occasions, but after hearing about what she did for Flaky and Flippy, I think I'm willing to help!" Sniffles trotted into the house, carrying a suitcase, and threw it on a table. He flicked it open and inside of it was things involving therapy.

"What does any of this have to do with her unexplainable injury?" Flaky asked, looking over everything in amazement.

"Well I figured you were only trying to work on her nightmare issues…I did not know of a physical injury. You're on your own there."

"Crap."

"Alright," Sniffles said, abruptly. "Lets go see her."

Just as the three were about to head out the door they were blocked by a rabbit, who had appeared from thin air like he normally does. "Guys, guys, guys!" Cuddles shouted in a panicky voice.

"What, what, what!?" Flaky responded, also panicking because Cuddles was panicking.

"Neon! She's not in the hospital anymore! I don't know what happened, but she's gone. I did see her before she slowly walked out the door though! I tried to stop her, but she turned to me and said "Fuck you, leave me alone" and then some other things I don't think I should mention around Flaky…" His words came out so fast they were barely understandable, but oddly enough the other Tree Friends understood everything.

"She's gone? That fast!?" Francis almost shouted, angrily. "She's still recovering, what the hell is she thinking!?"

"We've got to find her, and fast before she really hurts herself!" Sniffles stated. Francis clasped his paws over his head.

"Neon…what have you gotten yourself into now?"

---(Meanwhile)---

Lifty and Shifty were chuckling mischievously as they looked upon the recently stolen goods, overly proud of themselves. "Dude, we've outdone ourselves this time!" Lifty exclaimed, chuckling.

"We sure did! Robbing that Lemonade stand was the best idea ever!" Shifty agreed, also chuckling. Then they looked up and saw a green fox walking aimlessly around the block, with a dead look in her grey eyes. "Oh, another hapless victim of the Raccoon brothers!"

"Yeah, lets get 'er!"

Neon stopped walking suddenly and just stood in place, looking at her feet. Her bangs covered her eyes so that the others around her can see only the grey glow. Breathing shallowly, and eyes barley open, it seemed like her soul wasn't even there. Lifty and Shifty charged right up to her. "Hey there, sir or madam, how would you like to buy one of our fine hair-growth products?" Lifty said, reading off of a script. She answered them with a blank stare.

"Fuck it, grab her wallet and her house keys then book it." Shifty ordered.

"HEY! Get away from her!" Shouted Handy, happening to be there right as the twins were about to take whatever Neon had on her (even her jacket, if necessary). "What the hell are you two kleptomaniacs doing to this poor girl? Can't you tell she's been through hell and back again!?"

Neon, seeming to suddenly snap out of her trance, looked up and Handy quizzically. "Huh? Wh-where…?" She looked around, confused and lost. Hand stood by her, growling ferociously at the raccoons.

"Leave before I tell her brother what you were planning to do…" He threatened. The brothers both gasped and were gone before anyone seemed to notice. Neon was rubbing her eyes, tiredly.

"Handy…" She said. "How did I get here?"

Handy turned to her, also looking confused. "You walked here, I guess…" He replied, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know…I remember waking up at a hospital…then…this guy came up to my bed. I got scared, and then I somehow wound up in this weird warehouse again…now I'm here."

"Wait, "again"? You were in that warehouse before?"

"Yeah, in a dream I had the night before. It was freaky."

Neon took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes tightly. Handy stared at her for a moment, until her eyes opened and she looked up at him. Her eyes widened in shock, and a fearful tone entered her voice. "Oh…Oh my God…No! Not again! Just leave me alone!" She screamed.

Handy looked behind him, but saw no one there. "Are…are you talking to me?"

"GAH!" Neon turned and dashed in the other direction, screaming the whole way before being hit by a bus. Now all that was left was a bloodstain and a few organs. Handy cringed, then shrugged.

"Ah well, at least it wasn't me this time." He turned to leave, but then an anvil fell randomly from the sky and crushed him, sending bits of him everywhere.

---------

"Where, oh where, could that little green fox be…?" Cuddles said in a sing-song tone. He scanned the area, looking for Neon, but could not find any trace of her. But he did not know that she had been killed by a bus and wouldn't be back until the following morning. The hour grew late, and Francis and Flaky came to meet him.

"Cuddles, we need to get back home. I'm tired and Flaky's starting to get sick." Francis stated. Cuddles nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! Maybe tomorrow she'll come back! Like she always did!"

Francis scoffed, "Yeah…maybe…Ah! Come on, Flaky! Don't puke on me!"

"Sorry…F-Francis…" Flaky said, before vomiting again. After Flaky had finished being sick, they headed for home. After a while, Flippy pulled up in his jeep to take Flaky home, and Cuddles decided to ride his skateboard home, both leaving Francis alone.

---------

After returning home and vomiting at least twice, Flaky immediately crawled into bed. She felt okay, she just couldn't stop puking. Flippy sat next to her and gently stroked her head. "You don't feel warm…" He pondered after checking for a fever. He lied down and pulled her into a hug, nuzzling her lovingly. "Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah…" Flaky replied, returning the embrace. "I'm more worried for Neon though…it's not like her to disappear without letting someone know where she's going…" Flaky yawned and cuddled up to Flippy. "Hopefully…she'll be back by tomorrow…" She said before finally falling asleep.

Flippy looked down at her and sighed, "Yeah…hopefully…"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: The Insanely Short Chapter (Plost Twist Not Included)

Francis woke the next morning feeling like shit. He spent half of the day staring at Neon's strange mirror. He waited all day, but Neon never came home. It was when Flaky called when he really got worried.

"She's in Ghetto City!" Flaky exclaimed, "She just called saying so; she must've left when she regenerated! Francis, she's going to get herself killed!"

"Not exactly," Francis said, albeit frightened, "She grew up in that place; she should know how to handle herself…but…"

"But what? Francis, she's gone completely insane! Well, more insane than she originally was, but insane all the same!"

"Calm yourself!" Francis barked, "Get your shit together, we're going in after Neon!"

**Thought I might upload some shitty chapters before I forget this story again!**


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